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Joe McQuaid's Publisher's Notebook: Jobs, palms, and weddings

IF YOU DIDN’T notice anything different about today’s front page, we are doing something wrong.

For a second time this year, the front page wasn’t really on the front page. We have “wrapped” today’s newspaper in a special employment section.

A consequence of New Hampshire’s super-low unemployment rate these days is that a lot of companies in a lot of sectors are in serious need of more workers. That’s great for people seeking work, including those soon to pour forth from colleges and universities. And if the response to today’s layout is anything comparable to what employers received from the last one we ran, we will call that a win-win for both.

Watching the “60 Minutes” story about Ms. Stormy Daniels a week ago wasn’t a win-win for anyone involved. It did have a colleague wondering:

Are there any supporting actresses in so-called “adult films?” Or is everyone in that business a “star?”

Which reminded me of the great line in “Sunset Boulevard” where William Holden tells the faded film star, played by Gloria Swanson, that she “used to be” big in pictures.

“I AM big,” she says. “It’s the pictures that got small.”

Ms. Stormy is now suing a Trump lawyer for defamation. Which caused me to wonder, how does one possibly defame a porn star?

Not to defend Mr. Trump, but I wonder if CBS would have televised an interview with Judith Campbell Exner, had she decided to sue John F. Kennedy. I’m guessing not.

A friend recommended that I read “The Accidental President” about Harry S. Truman’s first four months in that office. It is a very good read. And it caused me to wonder what Harry and Bess Truman might possibly think of some of the people who have occupied the White House since their day.

On a more pleasant subject, Ike, Mike, and Spike don’t usually go to our parish church but did so on Palm Sunday.

Palms were distributed.

“What’s this?” asked Mike.

“It’s from a palm tree. People placed them on the roads in front of Jesus,” a self-important adult explained in a very self-important voice.

“But can I eat it?” asked the ever-practical Mike, who twice more during the loooonnng service let it be known that he was hungry.

I expect Mike was more interested in Easter because, well, it included edibles.

Our recent Weddings 2018 publication was one of our best, with several stories in which New Hampshire wedding planners shared tips of their trade. A limited number of the Weddings piece will be available for sale ($1 each) at our front counter here at 100 William Loeb Drive. The hours are Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.